MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 10: (L-R) Alexander Volkanovski of Australia and Diego Lopes of Brazil face … More off during the UFC 314 press conference at Kaseya Center on April 10, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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The stacked UFC 314 pay-per-view fight card goes down tonight, and at the end of the event, the UFC will have a new featherweight champion.
In the main event of the UFC 314 PPV, former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes for the title Ilia Topuria vacated when he decided to move to the lightweight division. The UFC 314 main card also has two other meaningful featherweight scraps. In those bouts, former title challenger Yair Rodriguez welcomes former two-division Bellator champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire to the promotion. Also at 145 pounds is a Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva scrap. The co-main event on the UFC 314 PPV fight card is an important lightweight meeting between former title challenger Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett.
Below, we look at details from those bouts and the start time for each portion of the UFC 314 fight card.
UFC 314 Fight Card
Date: Saturday, April 12, 2025
Location: Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida
Main Card Start Time: 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ Pay-Per-View
Preliminary Card Start Time: 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Early Prelims Start Time: 6:00 p.m ET on ESPN+
UFC 314 PPV Card
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes
Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett
Yair Rodríguez vs. Patrício Pitbull
Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva
Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes
UFC 314 Preliminary Card
Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson
Yan Xiaonan vs. Virna Jandiroba
Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper
Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa
UFC 314 Early Preliminary Card
Sedriques Dumas vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk
Sumudaerji vs. Mitch Raposo
Tresean Gore vs. Marco Tulio
Nora Cornolle vs. Hailey Cowan
UFC 314 Main Event: Alexander Volkanovski Vs. Diego Lopes
MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 11: (L-R) Opponents Alexander Volkanovski of Australia and Diego Lopes of … More Brazil face off during the UFC 314 ceremonial weigh-in at Kaseya Center on April 11, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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The winner of the UFC 314 main event will walk away from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida with the UFC featherweight title over their shoulder.
In announcing Volkanovski vs. Lopes, UFC CEO Dana White said of the soon to be former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, “Topuria has felt like he’s done all he can in that division, and he feels like he’s cemented his legacy, and his body cannot make the weight anymore. So Topuria will be moving up to 155 pounds and will be vacating the featherweight title. … As soon as the first punch is thrown in (Volkanovski vs. Lopes), the title is vacated. We will announce what Topuria’s next fight will be when we get it done.”
Volkanovski (26-4) is a former UFC featherweight champion. He held the title from December 2019 through February 2024, defending the belt five times over that time. His reign began with a unanimous decision win over Max Holloway and ended in a knockout loss to Topuria in February 2024.
During his run with the 145-pound belt, Volkanovski twice fought for the UFC lightweight belt, losing to Islam Makhachev in February and October 2023. Makhachev won the first meeting by decision. He followed that with a knockout victory.
Volkanovski has not stepped into the Octagon since his loss to Topuria. He is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC featherweight rankings.
Lopes (26-6) is the No. 3 fighter in the UFC’s 145-pound weight class. Lopes joined the UFC in May 2023, dropping his promotional debut to Movsar Evloev via decision. Since then, Lopes is unbeaten in five fights. His most recent victory was a UFC 306 decision win over two-time UFC title challenger Brian Ortega.
UFC 314 Main Event: Volkanovski Vs. Lopes Odds, Predictions And Picks
UFC 314 Co-Main Event: Michael Chandler Vs. Paddy Pimblett
MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 10: (L-R) Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett of England face off during the … More UFC 314 press conference at Kaseya Center on April 10, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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Michael Chandler (23-9) missed a lot of time over the past few years waiting for a bout opposite Conor McGregor to come together. With that fight looking less likely by the day, Chandler returned to the Octagon on November 2024 to face former UFC champion Charles Oliveira. It was Chandler’s first foray into the cage since a 2022 loss to Dustin Poirier. Oliveira downed Chandler via decision at UFC 309.
Chandler joined the UFC in 2021 after a long and successful tenure with Bellator. As a competitor for that promotion from 2010 through 2020, Chandler was a three-time lightweight champion. He defended the title twice during his first run with the belt and once during his second stint as champ. His third run as Bellator lightweight champ ended with a TKO loss to Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, who is making his UFC debut at UFC 314.
Chandler is 2-4 with the UFC, but outside his 2022 matchup against a fading Tony Ferguson, the 38-year-old has only faced the elite of the division. In addition to his bouts against Poirier and Oliveira, he has met Dan Hooker and Justin Gaethje inside the Octagon.
Chandler’s UFC wins came against Hooker (TKO) and Ferguson (knockout). The former Bellator champ is the No. 7 ranked competitor in the official UFC lightweight rankings.
Paddy Pimblett (22-3) is a former Cage Warriors lightweight champion. He has slowly been working his way up the UFC rankings since making his promotional debut in September 2021. Now 6-0 with the UFC, Pimblett looks to take a step up in competition against Chandler. Pimblett is coming off a UFC 304 “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning submission win over Bobby Green.
Pimblett had a successful run with the Cage Warriors promotion before he joined the UFC in 2021. During his time with Cage Warriors, which spanned 2013 through 2021, Pimblett won and defended the CW featherweight title and fought for that promotion’s lightweight crown.
Pimblett has been a fan favorite since he made his UFC debut and while some have been critical of the matchmaking the UFC have provided for Pimblett, something he addressed at the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference, Pimblett is in for a big test against Chandler.
UFC 314 Co-Main Event Odds And Predictions: Chandler Vs. Pimblett
UFC 314: Yair Rodriguez Vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freiere
MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 10: (L-R) Yair Rodriguez of Mexico and Patricio Freire of Brazil face off … More during the UFC 314 press conference at Kaseya Center on April 10, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)
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Yair Rodriguez (19-5-0-1) joined the UFC in 2014 with a win over Leonardo Morales. The decision victory made Rodriguez the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight tournament.
Over the next two years, Rodriguez went 5-0, picking up victories over Charles Rosa, Dan Hooker, Andre Fili, Alex Caceres, and B.J. Penn. During that stretch, Rodriguez picked up four fight-night bonus awards. His winning ways earned him the No. 7 spot in the official UFC featherweight rankings and a fight against ex-UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar on the pay-per-view portion of the UFC 211 fight card.
Edgar put a beating on Rodriguez that night at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, closing Rodriguez’s left eye by the end of the second round. Despite Rodriguez’s complaints, the doctor waved off the fight before the third round could begin.
Rodriguez bounced back from that loss with two memorable wins, which bookended a no-contest. In November 2018, Rodriguez picked up “Performance of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” bonuses for his spectacular, literal, last-second knockout of the Korean Zombie. Then, in October 2029, he won a “Fight of the Night” decision over Jeremy Stephens after their first meeting ended in a no contest after an accidental eye poke left Stephens unable to continue.
That brief run kept Rodriguez highly ranked in the featherweight division at No. 3, which put him in a UFC Fight Night main event against former UFC kingpin Max Holloway in November 2021. That night, Rodriguez and Holloway engaged in a spirited five-round clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, earning “Fight of the Night” honors. However, it was Holloway who took home the decision win.
Rodriguez did not stay down for long. In his next outing he earned an injury TKO over Brian Ortega, setting him up to face Josh Emmett for the interim UFC featherweight crown at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia. Rodriguez picked up his fifth career submission win in that outing, stopping Emmett in the second round.
Rodriguez failed to unify the featherweight titles in July 2023 when Alexander Volkanovski knocked him out in the third round of their UFC 290 battle.
Most recently, Ortega submitted Rodriguez in the third round of their rematch in February of last year.
The 32-year-old Rodriguez is on the first two-fight losing skid of his career. He is the No. 5 fighter in the official UFC featherweight rankings.
Freire (36-7) spent the bulk of his career under the Bellator banner. He made his promotional debut on the Bellator 15 card in April 2010. Freire first fought for the Bellator featherweight belt in 2013, losing by decision to Pat Curran. He got his revenge on Curran in September 2014, winning the belt via decision.
Freire defended his title twice before dropping a decision to Daniel Straus in November 2015. He regained the belt in 2017, submitting Straus via guillotine. Freire defended the title twice before adding the Bellator lightweight title to his trophy case.
Freire’s May 2019 TKO win over Michael Chandler earned him the Bellator 155-pound belt.
Freire defended his featherweight crown three times as a two-division champ before losing a July 2021 submission to A.J. McKee. He never put the lightweight belt up for grabs, vacating the title in October 2021.
The featherweight crown returned to Freire’s mantle in April 2022 when he defeated McKee via decision. Freire defended the belt twice in his third stint as the 145-pound champ. His most recent fight was a March 2024 TKO win over Jeremy Kennedy in a title defense.
Freire also dropped to bantamweight for a 2023 title shot against Sergio Pettis. Pettis won that contest via decision.
In December, Freire told MMA Junkie he wanted to be done with Bellator, which the PFL purchased in November 2023.
Stay tuned for more coverage from the UFC 314 fight card. Including live UFC 314 results, reactions, recaps and video highlights during tonight’s event.
